Friday, September 30, 2011

As the Financial Times reports, the Greek government says that if on-going strikes prevent the government from securing a desperately needed bailout, then it's the fault of those protesters.

Andreas
Georgiou, chairman of Elstat (Hellenic Statistical Agency), told the
Financial Times on Friday that he could not provide the figures needed
to finalise the 2012 budget because of the walk-out.

“We
will miss tonight’s deadline for sending final updated debt and deficit
figures for 2010 to the troika [experts from the European Commission,
International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank] because I and my
team can’t get into the building to finish the job,” he said.

He said the figures were urgently needed for the troika to
recalibrate the draft budget before it goes to parliament on Monday,
“but it will take another two to three days of work to complete them”.

The troika is reviewing Greece’s latest attempt to re-invigorate
fiscal and structural reforms, including another €6bn of budget cuts,
before deciding whether to release the next €8bn tranche of the current
bail-out loan.

France will be one of the key contributors to the expanded fund while
its own banks are critically exposed to sovereign debt from Greece and
other weak links in the eurozone chain -- Italy, Spain and Portugal.

Meanwhile,
in Athens, officials from the European Union, European Central Bank and
International Monetary Fund are conducting an audit to decide whether
to disburse eight billion euros ($11 billion) of crucial aid for Greece.

While
some eurozone members have yet to approve the expansion of the broader
bail-out fund, Greece is waiting on this tranche of a first bailout
accord in May 2010 to pay its bills next month and so avoid default.

Of course, not everyone in Russia is as enamored by her. The Moscow News reports that hecklers disrupted her earlier this week as she spoke at one Russian university.

Secret agent uncovered Anna Chapman met a hostile response at St. Petersburg State University on Wednesday as she tried to deliver a speech on leadership.

During a five minute address students held up
signs saying “Get out of the university,” “Kremlin and porn studio – go
the other way” and asked her challenging questions.

Chapman, the face of pro-Kremlin youth movement Molodaya Gvardia
and a member of its Public Council, meanwhile tried to deliver a speech
on the qualities of leadership and how to become a leader in the modern
world.

One of the NBA's best players says he's ditching the league (and North America) while the NBA is still in a lockout. The Los Angeles Times sent the following news alert late last night (PDT):

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant reportedly reached a verbal agreement to play
with the Italian professional basketball team Virtus Bologna. Bryant
will earn $3 million, reports the Associated Press, for the first 40
days of the Italian League season beginning Oct. 9.
The NBA has delayed the start of training camp and canceled 43 exhibition games through Oct. 15.

He is the former head of the International Monetary Fund who recently had sexual assault charges against him in New York dropped.

She is a French writer who says he tried to rape her a few years ago.

On Thursday, as France 24 reports, they met in a meeting arranged by the police. And neither side gave an inch.

Only police were present at the encounter, common in French justice
when two people give a different version of events, during which one of
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers said both sides had stuck to their version of
what happened.

"DSK stuck to his version of events, as did she," lawyer Henri
Leclerc said, using the politician's initials by which he is commonly
known in France.

Banon gave a television news interview late Thusday, saying that she
had maintained her allegation that the one-time French presidential
hopeful had lured her to a Paris apartment and violently tried to rape
her.

"There was a rape attempt and I repeated that," Banon told TF1
television. Both parties have given primetime interviews during the
police investigation.

Unless I am mistaken, there is no physical evidence to validate Ms. Banon's claim of an attempted rape. Absent such evidence, this case boils down to credibility -- who is more likely to be believed? And that credibility and believability right now means nothing. It becomes critical should the case move to trial.

Last year, I predicted that the San Francisco Giants would win the World Series. Can I repeat, so to speak, this year?

I will, if...

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES
Philadelphia over St. Louis: Synopsis: Phillies have too much pitching and better balance in their lineup
Arizona over Milwaukee: Synopsis: D'backs have remained under the radar all season long; they're better than the Brewers

AMERICAN LEAGUE DIVISIONAL SERIES
Detroit over New York: Synopsis: It's all about Justin Verlander. If he can win games 1 and 5, the Tigers other 24 players can win one in the middle
Texas over Tampa Bay: Synopsis: The Rays have already had their miracle

NATIONAL LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES:
Philadelphia over Arizona: Synopsis: Phillies have too much pitching....
Texas over Detroit: Synopsis: Unless the Tigers clone Verlander, he can't do it all

The stress of moving to a new country may exacerbate dysfunctional
behavior among family members. If families have strong ties to the
community and the relatives they are leaving behind, the relocation can
result in a longer-than-usual adjustment phase. If children are very
attached to particular recreational activities such as sports, camps, or
outdoor activities, the family will need to search for replacement
activities, and that may take a while. In cases in which small children
or difficult teenagers are having behavioral problems, moving abroad may
accentuate negative behavior and the family conflict it causes.

I don't make a habit of waking up at 4:00 a.m. Today, however, that was my wake-up time because of a planned visit to two high schools.

At Clearfield Area High School and The Grier School I met with students interested in careers in communication and (I hope) attending Point Park University in order to advance their academic and professional interests.

Leaving at 4:30 in the morning means there's no sunlight to enjoy. In fact, the sun hid from me until I was only a few minutes from my first stop. But as usual...

...it knew how to make an entrance!

And what you can't see is the changing colors of the leaves. The reds and oranges in central Pennsylvania are everywhere.